Cheap digital watches
For the longest time I've been totally fascinated with high-end mechanical watches. Most of the watches I liked were way out of my league and too expensive, but over the years with patience and devotion I was able to track down and purchase some highly desirable models that to this day are the pride of my collection. Among my most prized acquisitions are a 1970 Omega Speedmaster manual wind "Moon Watch", a Doxa SUB Professional dive watch, and a Seiko "SUS" Military with 4S15 movement.
The detailed design and specific history of each of these models just seemed to strike a nerve in me, until recently that is.
Over the last few years I found myself thinking less about impressive high-end mechanical watches that I'd be too concerned about getting scratched or lost, so much so that I hardly ever wore them, and instead leaning more and more towards functionality.
Getting married and starting a family may have played a significant role in this also. Being practical and somewhat frugal has long since overtaken the desire or need to be fashionable and impress others. While I still work in a professional environment, I no longer work with people who are impressed by an expensive timepiece - not that I was really trying to impress in the first place - but any watch enthusiast likes to have his watch noticed in order to have the chance to ramble on about it.
These days I mostly find myself looking for functionality and durability in my watches. I'm still very mindful of design and aesthetics - I am an interface designer after all - but expensive mechanical watches, or watches in general, are just no longer a huge priority.
These days I find myself rethinking what a good watch is all about and for me the Casio G-Shock is about the closest thing to perfection I could find. I might even go so far as to say they could be considered "anti-watches." There's nothing cooler than something that subverts a whole culture larded with snobbery, pretension and competitive shopping - aka expensive mechanical watches. And besides the price, the G-Shock does the job better than most.
I also like things that are designed and made better than they need to be, but which cost no more than they have to. The utilitarian angle. A G-Shock can cost as little as $30 but it gives me an incredibly tough (nearly unbreakable) watch that is solar powered and synchronized every day to the atomic clock!
It just makes great all round sense. I don't have to worry about my watch getting scratched or damaged (assuming I could even damage one of these), and if I happen to loose it I go to Walmart and buy another one. I'll admit I never thought I'd see the day when I would be saying this, but I actually prefer to wear my G-Shock to the three mechanical watches I previously thought of as my pride and joys and any of my other watches.
The detailed design and specific history of each of these models just seemed to strike a nerve in me, until recently that is.
Over the last few years I found myself thinking less about impressive high-end mechanical watches that I'd be too concerned about getting scratched or lost, so much so that I hardly ever wore them, and instead leaning more and more towards functionality.
Getting married and starting a family may have played a significant role in this also. Being practical and somewhat frugal has long since overtaken the desire or need to be fashionable and impress others. While I still work in a professional environment, I no longer work with people who are impressed by an expensive timepiece - not that I was really trying to impress in the first place - but any watch enthusiast likes to have his watch noticed in order to have the chance to ramble on about it.
These days I mostly find myself looking for functionality and durability in my watches. I'm still very mindful of design and aesthetics - I am an interface designer after all - but expensive mechanical watches, or watches in general, are just no longer a huge priority.These days I find myself rethinking what a good watch is all about and for me the Casio G-Shock is about the closest thing to perfection I could find. I might even go so far as to say they could be considered "anti-watches." There's nothing cooler than something that subverts a whole culture larded with snobbery, pretension and competitive shopping - aka expensive mechanical watches. And besides the price, the G-Shock does the job better than most.
I also like things that are designed and made better than they need to be, but which cost no more than they have to. The utilitarian angle. A G-Shock can cost as little as $30 but it gives me an incredibly tough (nearly unbreakable) watch that is solar powered and synchronized every day to the atomic clock!
It just makes great all round sense. I don't have to worry about my watch getting scratched or damaged (assuming I could even damage one of these), and if I happen to loose it I go to Walmart and buy another one. I'll admit I never thought I'd see the day when I would be saying this, but I actually prefer to wear my G-Shock to the three mechanical watches I previously thought of as my pride and joys and any of my other watches.
Comments